If EMS. OF INTEREST The Balkans' Kilkenuys. — The fact that the powers have declined to inter fere between the fighting ''allies' re minds one of the Kilkenny eats. In fact, the powers have tied together the , tails of the 'scrapping' States, slung j them across^ a line, and told them to fight to a finish. In time, there' may. be a few. tails left for the onlookers to gather up. Ka.lv.ay Workshops. — It is now rumo-ed that even the railway work shops ate to be removed from Cool gardie, but so far wo have no real confirmation of this. At the same time' we must not be too late again in making inquiries through all the Parliamentary representatives of the district. Benefit Football Match— The fol lowing team will represent Coolgard ie in the b.enefit match to be played on the local ground .to morrow, (Sun-, ^ay) against Trafalgar' — Maguiro, Kuhlmann, P. Lancaster F... Jones' Fysche, Duvino Er.-.kme,, Orawley, Penglase,' Larcqmbiy Smith, Can-, flickey, Ma. lio, O'Lcjary, Slight, Hearne...

' PUTTING THE BOOT IN.' ; A peculiar assault case, in which ?the accused was evidently the victim, came before . the Coolgardie bench ^yesterday, when the parties concerned were from the wood sidings x-n the Norseman line. A man was accused of assault by catching a woman by the wrists and ' saying something insulting1.' at an eatine house where he had been taken for a ' cup of tea. The evidence, for the prosecution was .conflicting^ and one of the com plainant's witnesses stated he had 'put the boot into' the defendant after 'another had knocked him ssnseiess. Tbere was some talk,, then, of ail adjournment to issue cross summonses, but the magistrates .decided to dismiss the case.

CROQUET, : Compliment to Mrs. Monaghan. The committee of the -'! 'ol^a-'li,-! : Croquet Club held an f.i'evnopn nji .! Wednesday last, when a .co'isi-J-MMb!-* ' portion of the time was devoted to the entertainment of Mis^ No rah Monaghan and her young friends, Lhis means of. paying a compUmanfc adopted on account of the ex- mayoress having made a useful presentation to the club in the form of a set of croquet balls. The following com petitions for adults were contested and won as -indicated: — Addition and subtraction, Mrs Jones; clock golf, Mrs Giles ; bell in hoop, Mrs Mercer ; croquet shot. Mr Giles. j Children's games followed and - e-'| sulte.d as follows : — Addition aor]J subtraction, Jeiti Barker : clock goif, Pattie Mitchell ; do., second prize, Jack Whjtaker. Afternoon tea was served and a pleasant time was sp-^nt by a large number of ladies and their young guests. Players from the Kalgoorlie club will visit the local lawn to-day,'when a series of matches will be played.. ...

Our Eastern Letter. Sydney, June 24th, 1913. How Much? . &amp;nbsp; "I sympathise, five shillings, friend. How much does htee sympathise?" said a Quaker spectator 'among the &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; crowd which had gathered round a case of distress. There are'numbers of &amp;nbsp; sympathisers with "the relators '' who &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; have just lost the case about Govern- ment House. They are unanimously of opinion that an appeal ought to be made to the Privy Council. But this &amp;nbsp; ''inherent right of every Briton'' can- &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; not be exercised without a big expendi- ture. Where is the money to come from? If the wealthy members of the &amp;nbsp; movement will only follow the example of some patriotic working men, who are undertaking to subscribe a shilling a week each till the case is finally de- cided, there will be no lack of funds. Sir Joseph Caruthers who, as an ex- Premier, may be considered to know what he is talk...

Paying the Piper. &amp;nbsp; The aftermath of the recent in- &amp;nbsp; creases of wages, and shortening of &amp;nbsp; working hours, which have been grant- ed in the railway service, is now com- ing forward to harvest. It is very gratifying to think that our railway &amp;nbsp; servants are so much better off than the majority of those who find the money to pay them. But the luxury is costly. In this case, it has cost nearly half a million per annum, and further concessions, which may cost another half million, are spoken of. .Already the surplus from the railways, which was so welcome to hard-pressed Treasurers, has vanished and, under &amp;nbsp; present conditions, the outlook is for a heavy deficit on the next year's working. Under, these circumstances, there is no alternative but either to &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; recall the advances— which, of course, is unthinkable — or else to increase &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; fares and freights, which, not so lo...

The Country Party. &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; The newly-forme "Country party" is getting some hard knocks from both gides. Liberal newspapers solemnly &amp;nbsp; warn their readers that it is carrying its political propaganda too far, in ven- turing to run its own candidates. Mr, Trefle, the "Labor" Minister for Agri- culture, also denounces, it. "If the Tory Party were in power," he de- clares, "there would be no cry for a third party." This is a very valuable admission from an influential quarter, because, when there is no cry for a third party, it is a pretty good indica- tion that there is contentment and sat- isfaction. On the other hand the decla- ration is discounted by the fact that every one who opposes one's own pet brand of innovation, no matter how rash and dangerous it may be, becomes necessarily a "Tory'"to the innovator &amp;nbsp; he opposes. But this by the way. The real truth of the matter is that any thing like independence is incompa- tib...

The By-Election Although it would be unseemly to in- &amp;nbsp; trude party strife in connection with such an event, it has, nevertheless, a political aspect which cannot be ig- nored. There is a vacancy in the Wol- londilly electorate, and the question is, who is to fill it. The seat is looked upon as a certainty for a Liberal. Mr. McCourt's tenure has hardly been threatened since he was first returned in 1882. The name and the boundaries of the electorate have been changed, but he has represented virtually the same district since the date named. At the last election Mr. Fern, a "Labor" candidate, polled 1841 votes against 3,349 recorded to Mr. McCourt. Mr. Fuller, the defeated candidate of Illa- warra, is spoken of as a likely candi- date for the selection, and it would &amp;nbsp; not be easy to find a more suitable man to carry the party colors. But there are other aspirants, and as some changes have been effected in the con- stitution of the electorate, the result may no...

Mr. McCourt &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; "The distinguished patient went &amp;nbsp; under an operation for an internal &amp;nbsp; complaint, and is now progressing fa- vorably!" Then, a day or two later, &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; "The funeral will take place tomor- row." How often have we been greeted of late witb this ghastly se- quence of events? One of the last to join the sad procession is Mr. McCourt, the popular and genial ex-Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. Leading men of both sides in politics have borne unstinted testimony to the good qualities of the departed member. Both in his private capacity as a mem- ber of society, and in his public ca- pacity as an honored representative of the people, and one who administered the difficult office of Speaker with rare tact and fairness, he evoked en- comiums which show that he was a man who could ill be spared. His obsequies were attended by the State Premier, the Leader of the Opposition and many lea...

Preferential Voting. Under these humiliating conditions, it is not surprising that there is a very general outcry for preferential voting, which would enable the electors to re- cord their suffrages in such a manner that each party would get a fair show. It would be an immense improvement on the present system, and it is to be hoped that it will be carried into effect. It has been in operation in Tas- mania for some time, and has proved to be quite workable. Nevertheless, as long the members of any party are content to sacrifice their own personal judgment and conscience in order to se- cure solidarity, proportional voting it- self, will not be able to keep them in check. A majority of the "Solid" party, illegitimately wielding the "power'' of the whole body, will still be able to carry the measures which it has adopt- ed in secret conclave, though the actual dissidents in the House may outnumber the"contents. " It is a crime when &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &am...

"THAT STRANGER." &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; I'll have a beer, the stranger cried, Said the barman, right you are, And drew a pint with a foaming head For the swell who stood by the bar. I'll have a beer, again he said, And the barman blandly smiled, &amp;nbsp; As again he filled, quite free from dread, The pot for the bloke well tiled. &amp;nbsp; I'll have a beer, once more was heard In the bar where that stranger &amp;nbsp; stood, &amp;nbsp; And back to the pump, no wise per- turbed, Strode the barman, kind and good. I'll just have another, and this makes four, &amp;nbsp; And down his neck ran the beer, And thanks for letting me run up a score, Quoth that stranger, and fled like a deer. &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; Then up got the barman, brave and strong, &amp;nbsp; And after the stranger he hied, His feelings so hurt at the cruel wrong, That running he well nigh cried. The race was swift, they...

THB WEATHER. The following notes on the weather &amp;nbsp; for the week ending Wednesday, July 2, have been supplied us by the Gov- &amp;nbsp; ernment Meteorologist: — The past week opened with good general rain over the whole South Western division, and light falls on the Coolgardie and parts ot the Mur- chison goldfields. The following day the disturbance was seen to have pass- ed to the head of the Bight, the rain contracting to the South coast, where light falls were registered between Al- bany and Eucla. On Saturday morning Eucla recorded a further seven points, this being the only precipitation noted. The influence of a new depression was first felt that afternoon, and when Monday's reports came to hand it was &amp;nbsp; seen that another general fall had oc- curred over the South-West. In coastal areas a number of stations exceeded 100 points, the maximum, 192 points, &amp;nbsp; being measured at Jarrahdale No. 6 mill. In the far eastern agricultural areas and...

Notifications to Employees. &amp;nbsp; We do not know whether this will be Mr Johnson's only reply to the &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; Coolgardie public meeting of protest, but information his reached this office, that all the employees of the &amp;nbsp; water supply and public workshops and stores have been notified to look for residences in Kalgoorlie. This looks like rushing things before the opposition to removal gains greater &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; strength.

A MINISTER'S VIEWS. &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; The Colonial Secretary (Mr. J. M. Drew) passed through Coolgardie on &amp;nbsp; Tuesday and was met at the station by Cr. Faahan. Mr. Drew then went on to Norseman by train, and there a &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; motor car awaited him for the Esper- ance trip. Cr. Faahan spoke to Mr. Drew about the workshops' removal, &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; and enlisted his support on behalf of Coolgardie's protest. The Colonial Secretary expressed sympathy with Coolgardie, and promised to speak to &amp;nbsp; Mr. Johnson regarding the removal proposal. &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;